Income tax officials today conducted simultaneous searches at various offices of the Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) here. According to sources close to the development the searches began in the morning and lasted more than five hours. However,it is not clear if the raids were aimed at a particular project that the company is currently handling. A company official confirmed the searches and said they were surprised by the I-T department's action. The I-T sleuths,who carried out the searches at all important branches of the company,declined to divulge any details. The NCC recently suffered a setback in Andhra Pradesh as the Union Environment Ministry suspended its clearance for a thermal power plant that the company proposed to set up in coastal part of the state,after an environment tribunal announced a stay on it. Three persons were killed in police firing after the local fishermen and environment activists tried to obstruct the company from taking up civil works of the power plant in July.
